WSJ says Turkey reporter convicted of ‘terror propaganda’

The Wall Street Journal said that one of its reporters has been convicted in Turkey and jailed in absentia on charges of publishing “terror propaganda” in a 2015 article on clashes between the Turkish army and outlawed Kurdish militants.

Ayla Albayrak, who is currently in New York, has been sentenced to two years and one month in prison, the Journal said on Tuesday (10 October).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday (21 November) urged the European Union and West to step up backing of Ankara’s fight against Kurdish militants, as he addressed a meeting of NATO lawmakers.

Decline in press freedom

The reporter, who has dual Turkish and Finnish citizenship, was ordered in November 2015 to visit her local police station, where she was told she was being probed for allegedly spreading terrorist propaganda.

The reporter argued that the article accurately reflected the status of the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish government, the Journal said.

Then in April 2016, Albayrak was indicted on charges she had violated anti-terror laws.

“This ruling against a professional and respected journalist is an affront to all who are committed to furthering a free and robust press,” said William Lewis, Dow Jones’s chief executive officer and publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

“We call on those who share this commitment to make their voices heard.”

The conviction came as a rift between the United States and Turkey deepened, following last week’s arrest of a US consulate employee.

The US mission in Turkey and then the Turkish mission in Washington mutually scaled back visa services after a US consulate employee was arrested in Turkey, in the latest sign of fraying diplomatic relations between the NATO allies.

Press freedom has sharply declined in Turkey in recent months, rights groups say, with increased censorship, crackdowns on independent media and a rise in detentions and violence against journalists.